Lack of respect for personal life

[mw2530]

Sometimes it seems like my boss and the company I work for has a lack of respect at times for employee's personal lives. Things have been extremely demanding at work this year and I am willing to put in some extra effort to get the job done but there also has to be some boundaries. I do taxes and accounting for a corporation so it is a salaried position and we generally work Monday thru Friday's, but I have worked plenty of Saturdays as well. My boss sent me a message late afternoon on a Saturday - not a text message, not an email, but a message through the instant messaging system we use at work. I saw the message Saturday night when I got home and I was rather annoyed because it seems like there is no boundaries or limit of when my boss can try and reach me. Plus the message was regarding work that I literally completed 3 months ago.

Do you think it is appropriate for my boss to message me at this time, regardless of whether or not he expected a response right away? He also did the same thing on Labor day, a recognized holiday and day off. It is reasonable for me to be angry regarding this lack of respect for boundaries and personal life?

 

[Jumpinbare]

Not knowing your boss, it's difficult to say. Knowing my son mutes his phone when he sleeps, I will text him when I know he is sleeping to avoid forgetting to text him later. I don't expect a response till he is up and about

 

[velociraptor]

Do you think it is appropriate for my boss to message me at this time, regardless of whether or not he expected a response right away? He also did the same thing on Labor day, a recognized holiday and day off. It is reasonable for me to be angry regarding this lack of respect for boundaries and personal life?

No. I also have the same problem by the way.

 

[mw2530]

Not knowing your boss, it's difficult to say. Knowing my son mutes his phone when he sleeps, I will text him when I know he is sleeping to avoid forgetting to text him later. I don't expect a response till he is up and about

My boss is a major workaholic and while he generally does not expect people to work as much as he does, he can be relentless when he needs something done. I've actually been at work with him past midnight on a few occasions. I don't think he was necessarily expecting a response this time around, but still pisses me off that he messages me late Saturday afternoon nit-picking on something I literally worked on over 2 months ago. Using instant messaging rather than email seems inappropriate if he did not expect a response.

Also, I appreciate the comparison but, I think messaging your son is a much different situation than a boss messaging their employee. I generally don't care to hear from my boss on the weekend, but I would expect my mom to call me.

 

[mw2530]

No. I also have the same problem by the way.

It is not appropriate for my boss to message me at this time or it is not appropriate for me to be angry about this?

 

[Tired]

Did boss demand something done immediately on Saturday?
Sometimes my managers write me on weekends what they need from me, and they know that i'll do it on weekends (if i have time and will), or on weekdays. They don't really expect anything from me, just tell me "here is a work, do it when you can."

 

[Forest Cat]

I don't think it's appropriate but it's a common problem. Happens to lots of people.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Bad management, period.

If you have established a work schedule, then later made personal plans on your days off, that's it. Done. Now, they can call you and ASK if you are free to come in, but they literally cannot make you. I am rather certain there are labor laws against this practice and if you get fired because of this, you can take them to court for unlawful termination.

Now, having said that, I would look up your organization's policies on this practice before opening up your mouth. Most larger companies will have all this in writing. If this is a small, "mom and pop", family run business, then they still should have this in writing for you to see. You may have signed but didn't actually read or clarify the "terms and conditions" of your employment.

 

[Outdated]

Do you think it is appropriate for my boss to message me at this time, regardless of whether or not he expected a response right away? He also did the same thing on Labor day, a recognized holiday and day off.

It's not at all appropriate or acceptable, and in Australia we've just written people's 'right to disconnect" in to law.

If an employer tries to contact you after hours it is in effect calling you back to work, a 5 minute phone call means they owe you 4 hours pay as a minimum call out.

https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-u...changes/closing-loopholes/right-to-disconnect

 

[Mary Terry]

Bad management, period.

If you have established a work schedule, then later made personal plans on your days off, that's it. Done. Now, they can call you and ASK if you are free to come in, but they literally cannot make you. I am rather certain there are labor laws against this practice and if you get fired because of this, you can take them to court for unlawful termination.

Now, having said that, I would look up your organization's policies on this practice before opening up your mouth. Most larger companies will have all this in writing. If this is a small, "mom and pop", family run business, then they still should have this in writing for you to see. You may have signed but didn't actually read or clarify the "terms and conditions" of your employment.

Salaried employees don't get overtime pay by law in my state and probably the entire USA. That's the difference between salaried and hourly employees. If a salaried employee is unhappy with the workload and the hours, and talking to the boss about it doesn't improve the situation, then they move on to another, less demanding job.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Salaried employees don't get overtime pay by law in my state and probably the entire USA. That's the difference between salaried and hourly employees. If a salaried employee is unhappy with the workload and the hours, and talking to the boss about it doesn't improve the situation, then they move on to another, less demanding job.

True, but I'm not sure this was the context. I am thinking this was more related to the boss changing employee work schedules "willy-nilly" on short notice, without asking and confirming, and then only communicating through some sort of text application.

 

[Judge]

Salaried employees don't get overtime pay by law in my state and probably the entire USA. That's the difference between salaried and hourly employees. If a salaried employee is unhappy with the workload and the hours, and talking to the boss about it doesn't improve the situation, then they move on to another, less demanding job.

It's tricky.

Reminds me of working in California and having to discover something known as the "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938". When I began working as an entry-level insurance rater, I learned that I was a "non-exempt" worker. That in any situation involving me having to work outside of normal hours, I got paid overtime for it. Not that it ever happened, mind you.

However when I was promoted to the underwriting department, I was told that I was now an "exempt" worker. Meaning my employer can and did ask me to work outside of those normal hours on occasion, just to get the department collectively up to date relative to the workload and accumulating paperwork. Translation: I had to work on occasional Saturdays without any additional pay. All quite "nice and legal". And no, none of us were offered a choice in the matter.

So it's not at all surprising to me that employers would continue to find all kinds of ways of contacting exempt employees outside of normal work hours for similar reasons.

In essence, the law is most likely on your employer's side, and they know it.

 

[Peter Morrison]

You should be able to speak with the boss who sends you messages outside of work hours. Gather your logical defense and provide the boss with a more reasonable way to communicate with you over work issues. Don't be belligerent, but try to walk away with a new, common understanding. I allowed evening and weekend messages to take over my life. I have always worked hard, but I need "down time" with no work-related concerns. You are right to be upset by this behavior, but it's a case of getting to an understanding.

 

[mw2530]

Did boss demand something done immediately on Saturday?
Sometimes my managers write me on weekends what they need from me, and they know that i'll do it on weekends (if i have time and will), or on weekdays. They don't really expect anything from me, just tell me "here is a work, do it when you can."

No he did not demand, but messaging me they way he did conveys to me that he would prefer that I respond sooner than later. Also his message irritated me in that it seemed rather unappreciative of some work I did by pointing out one small thing that I could off done better but making it seem like it caused him a lot of extra work. Which maybe it did, but it was also something I worked on months ago so I can't do much to help make the correction when he finally reviews the work 2+ months later on a Saturday afternoon. He said it was kind of frustrating for him to make the correction. So when you combined the timing of the message and the content, I became upset. Coupled with the fact that I have already made many sacrifices this year personally by working more to help get through the busy time. But it feels like no matter how much I do, it is never enough and I don't get paid a dime more for putting in extra time. I also am really good at my job and like it generally which is why I am willing to put up with a lot of extra bs, but there I do have a sense of not always feeling appreciated.

When I asked whether it is expected for me to respond on Saturday night, he said, that if I am able to respond, then please respond. I just don't want to read a message critiquing my work on a Saturday night. It seems like he could have done a better job communicating the message. To me, an email is a better route if he does not expect a response until Monday. But clearly seems like he expected a response, or at the very least, he preferred it.

 

[Judge]

No he did not demand, but messaging me they way he did conveys to me that he would prefer that I respond sooner than later. Also his message irritated me in that it seemed rather unappreciative of some work I did by pointing out one small thing that I could off done better but making it seem like it caused him a lot of extra work. Which maybe it did, but it was also something I worked on months ago so I can't do much to help make the correction when he finally reviews the work 2+ months later on a Saturday afternoon. He said it was kind of frustrating for him to make the correction. So when you combined the timing of the message and the content, I became upset. Coupled with the fact that I have already made many sacrifices this year personally by working more to help get through the busy time. But it feels like no matter how much I do, it is never enough and I don't get paid a dime more for putting in extra time. I also am really good at my job and like it generally which is why I am willing to put up with a lot of extra bs, but there I do have a sense of not always feeling appreciated.

When I asked whether it is expected for me to respond on Saturday night, he said, that if I am able to respond, then please respond. I just don't want to read a message critiquing my work on a Saturday night. It seems like he could have done a better job communicating the message. To me, an email is a better route if he does not expect a response until Monday. But clearly seems like he expected a response, or at the very least, he preferred it.

It all amounts to "walking a tightrope". In whether or not you choose to tell your boss that your time is just that- YOUR time. While at the same time it may technically weaken your position as an employee in any number of ways, assuming you are an exempt employee under the law.

And that hopefully your boss isn't thinking or willing to tell you, "Welcome to Shawshank. Put your trust in the Lord; you ass belongs to ME!" - (Warden Norton) That there are some employers who truly relate to their employees in such a manner. I hope this isn't one of them.

Given the nature of my job and the amount of time it took to commute each day I accepted losing five entire days a week to my employer. But it meant having to take care of 100% of my personal business on the weekend. Making any such interruption at the time a real hardship. Though in my own case I knew I was working for a corporate machine that "took no prisoners".

 

[Mary Terry]

As an attorney who owned the law firm and was counsel of record for clients, and whose tail was personally on the line for legal malpractice or an angry judge, I often worked nights, weekends, and holidays. The buck stopped with me. Yes, I emailed reminders to staff at odd hours about things that needed to be done because that's when it occurred to me that a task needed to be done, but I never expected them to abandon their off-time to rush down to the office to do whatever the task was or to even check their work email during their free time.

Chances are high that your boss doesn't expect you to rush back to the office or to even respond to his emails/messages in your off time. You just need to follow up with him on Monday or your next regular day at the office.

 

[Alexej]

I think this is inappropriate. Certainly if he expects you to do something about it at once.


I think in France that now have laws about emails outside working hours.

 

[saturnv]

I turn off my work computer when work is over and don't turn it on until I am working again. People can send me all the messages they want on Saturday. I will read them on Monday when I am getting paid to deal with potentially annoying messages.